On 27 May, I ran the Pear Valley BBS in McCulloch County for my 10th time.Â
The route starts northwest of Brady. It was a good morning. I tallied 71
species and 747 individuals. The 71 species smashes the old record of 61
(2010 and 2014) species recorded during stops, and I even had 4 additional
species (Green Heron, Red-eyed vireo, Common Grackle, Loggerhead Shrike)
between stops. Not getting a shrike at one of the points might be considered
a miss, but they have declined as a breeder over the years and have been
sporadically recorded during my tenure running the route. Common Grackle is
actually much more consistently recorded at stops. The 747 individuals are
slightly below the 39 year average of 771. While 747 is the 2nd highest
number of individuals that I have recorded in my 10 years of running the route;
it is interesting to note that highest numbers( 800-1000+) were recorded
between 1972 and 1986. Anyway, it was an interesting morning, very humid,
overcast, and with large ominous thunderhead looming to the north, though that
mostly skirted around my route and a bit of drizzle and mist for a short period
was the worst I experienced. Overall, the route was green and wet. My
list for the morning:
Gadwall 2 - new for route; likely lingering migrants
Blue-winged Teal 7 - at 2 stops; only the 2nd time the species has been
recorded on this BBS.
Northern Bobwhite 54 - just barely above average
Wild Turkey 7 - above average
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 3 - above average
Turkey Vulture 22 - below average; humid weather, encroaching brooding storm
clouds, and a period of drizzle/mist likely suppressed vulture activity
Cooper's Hawk 1 - new species for the route
Swainson's Hawk 3 - above average
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Killdeer 4 - a bit below average
White-rumped Sandpiper 4 - only the 2nd time recorded on the route (1st time
was in 2014); migrant
Wilson's Phalarope 2 - new species for the route; migrant
Eurasian Collared-Dove 14 - above the long-term average, but that is because
the species has only occurred on the route over the last 10 years; numbers in
line with what has been observed over the last 10 years
Common Ground-Dove 2 - only the 3rd time the species has been recorded on
this route
White-winged Dove 1 - below average, even considering the fact that this
species has only been recorded on the route during the last 12 years
Mourning Dove 111
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 20 - above average
Greater Roadrunner 5 - above average
Great Horned Owl 3
Common Nighthawk 37 - above average
Chimney Swift 2
Black-chinned Hummingbird 3
Golden-fronted Woodpecker 4
Ladder-backed Woodpecker 3
Willow Flycatcher 1 singing - new species for the route (only 1 other empid
- unidentified to species - has ever been recorded on the route); migrant
Eastern Phoebe 4 - above average
Ash-throated Flycatcher 4
Western Kingbird 6 - above average
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher 38 - just a tad below average
White-eyed Vireo 2 - only the 6th time recorded on the route (all within the
past 9 years)
Bell's Vireo 9 - above average
Black-capped Vireo 2 - only the 5th time recorded on the route (all within
the past 8 years)
Common Raven 4 (2 pairs) - above average; a very sporadic species on this
route
Horned Lark 3 - below average, but in line with tallies over the last decade
which are significantly lower than in the 1970s and 1980s
Purple Martin 4 - about average, but low by recent standards
Barn Swallow 6 - a bit below average
Cliff Swallow 9
Cave Swallow 12 - above average, but the species has only been recorded on
the route during the last 11 years
Black-crested Titmouse 3
Verdin 2
Bewick's Wren 28 - above average
Cactus Wren 1 - below average; this species was seemingly formerly more
abundant on the route
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2 - only the 8th time recorded on the route (all within
the past 11 years)Northern Mockingbird 73 - below average
European Starling 5 - above average
Black-and-white Warbler 1 - only the 3rd time recorded on the route (all over
the last 11 years)
Yellow-breasted Chat 2 - only the 2nd time recorded on the route (1st
occurrence was in 2014)
Cassin's Sparrow 26
Grasshopper Sparrow 9 - above average and it ties the previous high tally for
the route
Chipping Sparrow 1 - only 4th time recorded on route
Field Sparrow 4
Black-throated Sparrow 4 - beats the previous high tally of 3; somewhat
sporadic, but mostly records from 1990s on
Lark Sparrow 41 - a bit below average
Canyon Towhee 2 - below average; the species was apparently formerly more
abundant on the route
Rufous-crowned Sparrow 7 - above average
Summer Tanager 2 - sporadically recorded on route
Northern Cardinal 21 - above average
Pyrrhuloxia 6 - above average
Blue Grosbeak 1
Painted Bunting 26 - above average
Dickcissel 73 - way above average (which is about 9) and smashes the old high
tally of 43 set in 1972; it should be noted that this is an irruptive species
as a breeder
Red-winged Blackbird 19Eastern Meadowlark 8 - below average (and it is also
interesting to note that Western Meadowlarks occurred on the route in the 1970s
and 1980s)
Great-tailed Grackle 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 12 - way below the average of 36
Orchard Oriole 2
Bullock's Oriole 4 - a bit below avergae
House Finch 2 - below average
Lesser Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow 7 - way below the average of 59, but numbers really plummeted
starting in the 1990s
 Richard Kostecke, Ph.D.
The Nature Conservancy
318 Congress Ave., Austin, Texas 78701Email: rkost73@xxxxxxxxx or
rkostecke@xxxxxxx
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